Douluo's ice devil Yuhao

Chapter 601 Ready to Go On
The group stage is in full swing, with a packed schedule of matches, providing a feast for the eyes of the audience over the course of more than ten days.

A match doesn't last too long, and several group matches are held at once in the spacious square, but the lengthy format still makes the spectators feel a bit tired, and most people's energy is still focused on the top academies.

Shrek Academy and the royal academies of various countries have stable supporters, and the people of Douling naturally support Douling Royal Academy and Shrek Academy even more. These traditionally strong teams have all easily achieved consecutive victories in their respective groups, ranking high on the leaderboard.

As for those less well-known institutions, they generally had mixed results and were eliminated from the final knockout rounds.

However, one team emerged as a dark horse, achieving excellent results in the group stage that were in no way inferior to the traditional powerhouses. That team was Mingdou Academy, which was participating in the competition for the first time.

This is a team that combines Soul Masters and Soul Mentors. So far, all the members who have taken the stage are Soul Kings or higher. They have defeated their opponents with outstanding performances in both arena battles and team battles.

Soon, the audience began to talk about this rookie, comparing him to several strong teams and speculating about his performance in the upcoming knockout stage.

Today is another group stage match for the Mingdou team. While waiting for the last match to end in the rest area, Huo Yuhao said to his team members, "Your next opponent is the host of this competition, the Douling Royal Academy, who is also the only competitor in our group worth mentioning."

"But we've already secured our qualification, and I don't want to expose too many of our key players. Therefore, the captain and a few others will still not play, and the others should also keep their strength hidden. At the same time, we can take this opportunity to test out the newly developed soul tool and practice using it on the field."

The team members nodded in agreement. Real combat is always the best testing ground, and even if they lose a match, it won't affect their advancement.

Several students' eyes lit up. The "that" the team leader was referring to was the humanoid soul tool. Even among the elite students, only a few outstanding soul masters like Ning Yuan could use it.

The significance of the humanoid soul tool is too great. The team leader finally allowed its use. Whoever is the first to demonstrate it on the field will definitely become the focus of the audience and steal the spotlight.

Huo Yuhao patted Qianfeng on the shoulder as well: "You're going to get ready to go on stage too, do your best."

Qianfeng didn't say anything, he just nodded silently.

Huo Qiu'er stared at the square, her expression somewhat impatient: "This competition is far too tedious, one match after another, so long and tedious. There has never been a group stage before, it just starts elimination right away, what's the point?"

Huo Yuhao said leisurely, "When someone deliberately complicates something that is originally simple, it means that there must be another purpose."

He handed Huo Qiu'er a piece of paper.

Huo Qiu'er took it and glanced at it. It showed the current standings of each team, displaying the top teams in each group.

She looked closely for a while and, although all the top teams had secured their places in the next round, she could still spot some clues.

Shrek Academy has the most favorable group draw, with no other strong teams in its group, while Sun Moon Royal Academy and Star Luo Royal Academy will meet each other in the group stage earlier.

Huo Qiu'er pondered for a moment and said calmly, "I understand what Dou Ling means. It's just that they want to use the competition format to find out the team members' abilities as early as possible."

Huo Yuhao nodded: "Yes, think about it, there are so many matches to play, and the intervals between each match are very short. Even if you want to use substitutes to hide your strength, you can't, since substitutes also need to rest."

"In addition, young people always have the urge to show off, so we can basically observe most of the team members' martial spirit, abilities and fighting styles."

“Look at Shrek Academy, they’re quite comfortable. Their opponents have little fighting spirit, and their main force hasn’t been exposed yet.” Huo Qiu’er asked, “What difference does it make whether they’re exposed or not? You’ve already investigated this thoroughly, haven’t you?”

Huo Yuhao nodded: "Among the five sixth-ring members, two are strong attackers, one is a controller, one is a defender, one is a support, and there are also peak fifth-ring agility attackers and healers. This should be their strongest seven-person configuration. Their tactics are very versatile, and whether it is facing pressure head-on or maintaining endurance, their capabilities in all aspects are top-notch."

He casually revealed all the secrets that Shrek had been hiding.

Huo Qiu'er scoffed, "Is it really necessary to be so cautious?"

Huo Yuhao shrugged: "I didn't expect Shrek Academy to be so conservative this time. They put a lot of effort into the competition system alone. Sun Moon Academy even showcased two of their latest soul tools."

"If the referee takes their side a little more, it will be hard for them to lose."

Huo Qiu'er said, "Is it really necessary to go through all this trouble? Why not just arrange all the opponents together in the draw and let them be eliminated early? Why bother with a group stage?"

Huo Yuhao said meaningfully, "You don't understand. Wouldn't doing this be blatantly telling the other countries that we're rigging the game? Douling obviously doesn't want to offend the other three countries at the same time. Letting them meet in the group stage means that even if they lose, it won't affect their advancement. Everyone's happy."

"Furthermore, we can also try to get other colleges in our country into the knockout stage."

He pointed to the other teams on the leaderboard: "In this tournament, the Spirit Empire has achieved another outstanding result, with six teams entering the top sixteen, ranking first among all countries. How about that? Doesn't it sound much better when people say it?"

Huo Qiu'er revealed a disdainful expression, deeply disgusted by the Douling Empire's petty schemes.

Do true masters spend their days studying these underhanded tactics?

Huo Yuhao picked up the group standings table again and frowned.

He always felt that it wasn't a coincidence that Douling Royal Academy and Mingdou Academy were grouped together, but rather deliberately arranged. But what was the purpose of doing so?
Could it be that Dou Ling deliberately used himself as a shield to help Shrek Academy test the strength of Ming Dou Academy? Anyway, losing in the group stage won't affect their qualification, but there won't be any chance to test them in the knockout stage.

Of course, Dou Ling may not really be so selfless and devoted to Shrek Academy; it might just be a coincidence.

Huo Qiu'er asked doubtfully, "Since you knew it was a test, why did you still make them show their humanoid soul tools? Wouldn't that be playing right into their hands and revealing your trump card?"

"Who said this is a trump card? Who knows how many cards Ming Dou still has? Even if it is a trump card, it's not Ming Dou's." Huo Yuhao said dismissively, his last sentence seemingly implying something.

"Match over, Thousand Machines Academy wins!" the referee shouted, announcing the result of the previous match.

The winners were overjoyed, but the losers weren't so discouraged, because their points already meant they were destined to fail to qualify.

"Clean up the field, next group of players please get ready."

"The Douling Royal Academy team will face off against the Mingdou Academy team."

Huo Yuhao waved to the Mingdou team, and the seven members selected on the list stood up at the same time and walked towards the field with firm steps.